Students at SUNY Campus to get net zero energy (ready) residence hall in New York State

25 February 2019

The State University of New York (SUNY) will have its first net zero energy-ready retrofit project on a campus with SUNY Oneonta’s Ford Hall. The residence hall, which can house 300 students, will be renovated as “zero-net carbon-ready”. This means in addition to exceeding existing energy codes, the building will make use of future off-site renewable energy sources as they become available to meet building operations energy consumption needs.

Proof of concept

It is the first of its kind for the SUNY Residence Hall Program and will serve as a proof-of-concept, demonstrating an affordable residence hall renovation can achieve zero-net carbon (ready) performance. The team selected to renovate the residence hall will utilise design-build. Design-build is an alternative project delivery method where both design and construction services are provided through a single contract to further project delivery. This provides savings and integrates construction process knowledge into the design effort leading to a high level of quality.

Collaborative effort

The project represents a collaborative effort between SUNY, DASNY (The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York), and NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research & Development) through its RetrofitNY program, to develop cost-effective retrofit solutions that will achieve zero-net carbon performance, and improve resident quality of life and building aesthetics. The RetrofitNY approach is based on our successful European program, Energiesprong. Energiesprong is project partner of RetrofitNY.

The project is expected to begin construction in the summer of 2020 and be completed by the start of the fall 2021 semester.

Reducing the State’s carbon footprint

This project is part of a strategy to achieve Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s nation-leading clean energy goals and for the state to lead by example with Chancellor Johnson’s plan to retrofit and renovate SUNY’s 64-campus system to achieve Greenhouse Gas Emissions reductions. This plan includes SUNY purchasing 100 percent of its grid sourced electricity from zero-carbon sources, including renewables and energy storage, and requires all new SUNY buildings to be designed to be capable of zero-net carbon emissions. Making these improvements at SUNY’s 2,346 buildings – which represent 40 percent of the state-owned building infrastructure in New York – is expected to reduce the State’s carbon footprint by more than 400,000 tons of carbon emissions per year.

The residence hall project will be financed through a combination of DASNY’s SUNY Dormitory Facilities tax-exempt bonds supported by student residence hall fees and funding from NYSERDA.